The Circumstance

The Circumstance (Italian: La Circostanza) is a 1973 Italian drama film written, directed and edited by Ermanno Olmi. The film was screened at the 1974 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it received a special mention.

Plot
Laura, a lawyer who comes from an upper-class Milanese family, leads an altogether placid life. After witnessing an almost-fatal motorcycle accident near her family's country home, she becomes obsessed with the young victim, leading to a series of flashbacks and introspective instants that probe the bourgeois life she leads.

Cast

 * Ada Savelli as Laura
 * Raffaella Bianichi as Silvia, Laura's daughter
 * Gaetano Porro as Laura's husband
 * Massimo Tabak as Tommaso, Laura's second son
 * Mario Sireci as Beppe, Laura's eldest son
 * Barbara Pezzuto as Anna, Beppe's wife

Reception
Critic Derek Elley titled The Circumstance a "romantic highpoint in Olmi's oeuvre" and "his most accomplished piece of work."

Legacy
The Circumstance was screened at Film at Lincoln Center in 2019 as part of a retrospective on Olmi's work.